Certain portions of society have always desired more stylized or artistic decorations of the human body. The process of applying tattoos, though, is both painful and costly, and the image is permanent.
A number of tattoo imitations have been developed to give the appearance of detailed skin or body images without the permanency or pain involved with tattoos such as painted images, transferable dye images, and decal images. Painted images require the artistic efforts of a painter to provide a good quality image. Painted images provide an infinite variety of high quality images, but are relatively expensive.
For transferable-dye images, water-soluble or solvent-soluble dyes are usually painted on a substrate in a pattern or image. The wetted substrate with dyes is then pressed against the skin with a rubbing action, thus transferring the dyes to the skin. This method tends to produce streaked, smeared and partial images. Some of the dyes are water-soluble and will run and streak easily from perspiration or other liquids. Additionally, with water transferable temporary tattoos, it is necessary to have water available for the application thereof. They must be taken off by strong rubbing with alcohol, soap and water, baby oil, cold cream, or the like. By default, the water-transferable temporary tattoos have only one application or use.
Decal tattoo imitations comprise a printed image on a substrate with an adhesive material on the other side of the substrate. These decals tend to appear highly artificial. Currently available decal body tattoos have been successfully marketed for many years, but they appear little better than Band-Aid® Brand adhesive bandages with printed images on them.
Current temporary tattoos and decals utilize a variety of printing and imaging methods. They include, but are not limited to, flexography, lithography, rotogravure, screen printing, or combinations thereof. These printing and imaging methods require printing or imaging plates, cylinders, drums, screens, etc., which require cleanup and changing between different printed images. These printing and imaging methods have limitations on print image resolution such as Dots Per Inch (DPI) or Lines Per Inch or other such measurement of resolution or print clarity. The printed images from most of these printing and imaging methods are actually layers of ink/pigment from each printing or imaging plate, cylinder, drum, or screen in different stations in the printing or imaging process. The registration of these printed images is performed mechanically and/or visually by an operator or visual inspection methods or processes.